8 O'Clock Buzz

Now that the dust has settled, Ben Wikler can finally take a few minutes to relax and reflect on the historic results of Wisconsin’s most recent state Supreme Court race, in which Democrat Janet Protasiewicz soundly defeated the Big Money-backed Republican, Dan Kelly. Wikler, who has been Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin since 2019, joined Thursday’s 8 O’Clock Buzz host Tony Casteñada to talk about what just might be possible with a Democratic majority on the court for the first time in 15 years, and what Wisconsin’s now solid status as a purple state will mean for politics – not just in our state, but on the national level.

Photo courtesy of Andre Hunter on Unsplash.

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They’re coming… but can they be stopped? Barbara Smith from Safe Skies, Clean Water Wisconsin talks about the issues surrounding the F-35 aircraft planning to be stationed in Madison, and invites interested parties to a forum to learn and discuss the issues on April 19th, 2023, from 7-9 pm at the Sherman Avenue United Methodist Church, 3710 N. Sherman Avenue

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Journalist, historian, author of the book “Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: Corporate Gangsters, Multinationals, and Rogue Politicians(2015),” and PhD. candidate in African Studies at Northwestern University, Chernoh Bah has performed extensive research of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and has found some surprising links between his identification of the origin of the disease and what he has identified as biodefense facility activities in 2004 — not what has been reported. He will be speaking on April 13th, 2023, at 5055 Vilas Hall at 4:00 pm.

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Described by Robert Kraig, Executive Director, the Citizen Action of Wisconsin seeks to be a grass-roots power as an alternative to organized corporate money. Kraig talks about the goals of the group as a state-wide organization to bring improved healthcare, better elections, climate and energy campaigns to meet global warming targets, and move the Democratic Party in a more radical progressive direction.

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Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with 1neofmani (Breyon Sommerville), Kristie Maurer, Foodie and Grocery Entrepreneur, and Dan Rolfs, Community Development Project Manager for City of Madison, join us to talk about developing space for Maurer’s Market in the Truman Olson project on the City’s South Side.  In the second half, they are joined by Movin’ Out Executive Director Kathryne Auerback and Real Estate Program Manager Megan Schuetz to talk about the Park Cedar Apartments upstairs from the grocery.

More information on Maurer’s Market from The Cap Times.

More on Movin’ Out and their developments and programs: https://www.movin-out.org/ 

Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a donation online at wortfm.org.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Kichwa Collective Takes Over Madison Library

The Kichwa are an indigenous people who settled in what is  now Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.  The more than 400 Kichwa communities scattered throughout the Amazonian basin are united by a common language and culture, and since 1992, territorial land rights granted by the Ecuadorian government.  Kichwa migrants to places like the United States often struggle to maintain their cultural identity.  On Saturday, April 15, the Madison-based Kichwa Collective seeks to highlight Kichwa culture with a scheduled Library Takeover event at the Madison Public Library.  Kichwa Collective members Cayana Amaguana Cachiguango and Jay Lema joined the Monday Buzz on April 10, 2023.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Wisconsin Governor’s Pardons Fall Short

On April 7, 2023, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced that he had granted clemency to 159 people convicted of felonies and who had completed their sentences at least five years ago.  That brings the total number of pardons Evers has issued in the past five years up to 933, the largest total in Wisconsin history.  Nonetheless, criminal justice advocates say there is more Evers can and should do.  Eric Howland is the past President of Madison Organizing in Strength, Equality and Solidarity or MOSES, and he joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on April 10, 2023.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Julian Assange: Political Prisoner

In 2010, Julian Assange published thousands of classified documents obtained by U.S. Military Intelligence agent Chelsea Manning on his site Wikileaks.  Shortly after the release of the data, the U.S. government began investigating Assange under the federal Espionage Act of 1917.  Thus began a decade-long flight and fight for Assange’s freedom, including asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and his eventual capture by London police in 2019.  That saga has been captured in the 2021 Ben Lawrence documentary, Ithaka, which screens on Monday April 10 at Madison’s Barrymore Theater.  John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father, joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on April 10, 2023.

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On Tuesday, Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford was elected alder of Madison’s 15th district—the first out trans woman ever elected in Wisconsin. She ran on a platform of affordable housing, improving neighborhood infrastructure, and social justice issues. She brings a commitment to LGBTQIA+ representation and the rights of the underserved. She joins Friday Buzz host, and her own constituent, Andy Moore to discuss her journey into politics, her reaction to being elected and what she plans to do while serving as a Madison alder.

Dina Nina Martinez is alder of Madison’s 15th district, the near east side area that runs along Lake Monona from Orton Park and into the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood. Away from her new political career, Dina Nina is a comedian and the owner of the award-winning Lady Laughs Comedy.

Photo courtesy of Dina Nina Martinez via her website

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On the same day this week that former President Trump made his way to a criminal arraignment, those of us in Wisconsin made our way to the polls—a place that Trump works hard to convince people is dysfunctional. His actions that attempted to overturn the 2020 election will likely have their day in court, just like hush money did this week. Trump, of course, relishes the spotlight his legal troubles cast upon him. It’s now his platform for re-election. His single messaging marries together two words: “Weaponization,” as he describes the use of the justice system against him, and “victimization,” as in “this could happen to you.”

This “us vs. them” strategy was explored with great clairvoyance in Katherine Cramer’s 2016 book, “The Politics of Resentment.” In the book she unnested Scott Walker’s strategy to identify a common enemy—in this case public workers—and rally a political base to resent them and support him. The book is remarkably successful at predicting the events of the Trump era, and if you find yourself wondering how exactly our recent political climate developed, you may find the answers you’re looking within the pages of the Cramer’s book. On this edition of the Friday Buzz, Cramer joins host Andy Moore to talk about how the revelations from her book and studies have manifested themselves in recent politics.

Kathy Cramer is a professor of political science and the Natalie C. Holton Chair of Letters & Science at UW-Madison. She’s also the author of the award-winning book, “The Politics of Resentment.”

Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago Press via their website

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